Journey of Darkness and Light
by RiptideLogic
Summary: Percy Jackson has a secret. His mom told him who he was, when he came back from his first quest. His dad had helped him from the start, yet the Fates allowed it. An alternate universe where Perseus Jackson isn't just the son of the Sea God.
1. Hazel LXXV

**Greetings! Here is my version of the story with a slight twist. Things to note is that for the start of this story, I'll be adding small twists here and there but still following the story as Rick has written it. Only for the later chapters will I stop following the what Rick Riordan had originally intended and use my own vision.**

 **Things to take note is that in this story, Nico is still gay but not for Percy. The name that Nico gave Eros in his palace was Will Solace's. Also, Thalia, Nico and Percy have a sisterly/brotherly relationship here.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus.**

 **Hazel LXXV**

 _ **Shadow-travel is not fun.**_

The wind bristled in her ears, a cold feeling creeped her skin, not to mention the unknown sounds coming from the dark. An overall feeling that Hazel would like to never experience again.

They reappeared on the hillside overlooking River Acheron. The sun was just rising, making the water glitter and the clouds glow orange. The cool morning air smelled of honeysuckle.

To her riaght, was Frank holding her hand tightly, and to her left was her brother, Nico. Hazel let go of the breath she didn't realise. Clytius has been defeated, there are no monsters that want their blood, and Percy and Annabeth are back.

In front of her Leo staggered backwards, "You know… I think I'll sit down."

He collapsed, with Jason, Piper, Frank and Annabeth following suit. The Argo II still floated over the river a few hundred yards away.

Hazel knew that they should signal Coach Hedge and tell him they were alive. How long were they in the temple? A night? Several nights? At the moment, they couldn't care, the group was too tired to do anything except sit back and marvel the fact that they were alive.

Percy stood in front of Hazel, leaning on Riptide, for support. His leg covered in blood, if he was in pain, he didn't show it. The sitting demigods were in-between from where Hazel and Percy was standing.

Nico took a step forward, eyes closed, fists shaking.

Nico walked till he was just a feet away from Percy, who capped Riptide. He looked Percy in the eye.

"You. Are. An. Idiot!" Nico yelled at Percy. "What were you thinking when you were hanging on that ledge? Do you have death wish? How could you just let go? Such an idiot!".

"Nico…" Jason started. Turning to Jason, Nico said with venom, "Shut it, Grace."

Hazel watch as Nico turned back to Percy. "Do you know how worried I was? I lost sleep wondering if you were alive! I… I…" Nico's voice faltered at the end.

"I was scared" Nico whispered, then he embraced Percy in a bone-crushing hug. Percy who had been silently taking all of Nico's words, hugged him back with as much emotions.

"Thank the gods." Hazel heard Nico murmur into Percy's blood stain shirt, "I… I wasn't ready to lose you, after Bianca, I can't lose anymore of my family…"

"Hey now, relax Neeks," Percy spoke softly, running his scarred hand through Nico's hair. "After all this, you, Thalia and I are gonna have some double cheeseburgers at the hotel on West 57th, just like old times."

The two of them stayed like that for awhile, grasping each other like they're each other's lifelines.

"Am I missing something?", Leo asked, looking around the group. Piper punched him on the shoulder, "Let them have their moment".

Percy and Nico let go of each other, Percy whispered something in his ear and Nico nodded. Was there something they were keeping from us, Hazel wondered.

"I didn't know the Ghost King would have feelings or would engage in physical contact," Percy teased Nico.

"I-I have feelings, I just thought that you'd leave" Nico stammered, his ears turning pink. Percy grinned, bringing Nico back in, turning him and putting him in a head lock, then ruffling his hair. Nico tried to escape his grasp but Percy continued ruffling his shaggy hair, messing it even more. Nico made sounds of protest, while Percy gave a hearty laugh.

The rest of the seven smiled at the two boys, at the moment they looked like brothers, and acted like brothers.

"I think our ride is here," Annabeth said, regrettably ending the brotherly fun. The Argo II veered into port , it's aerial oars motion, its sails catching the wind. Festus's head glinted in the sunlight.

"That's my boy!" Leo yelled.

As the ship got closer, Hazel saw Coach Hedge standing at the prow.

"About time!" the coach yelled down. He was doing his best to scowl, but his eyes gleamed as if maybe, just maybe, he was happy to see them. "What took you so long, cupcakes? You kept your visitor waiting!"

"Visitor?" Hazel murmured.

At the rail next to Coach Hedge, a dark-haired girl appeared wearing a purple cloak, her face so covered with soot and bloody scratches that Hazel almost didn't recognise her.

Reyna has arrived.


	2. Percy LXXVII

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus.**

 **Percy LXXVII**

 **Percy tried to still the turmoil in his head.**

Ever since his journey in Tartarus, the whispers in his head worsened. He tried to contain everything in, he can't risk the others knowing. Not Annabeth, not Nico.

He's not ready.

You must be wondering, what secret? Well…

The gods aren't the only ones siring children.

Erebus had fallen for a mortal, and had a daughter, named Laura Scipio. Born in Rome, Laura was the sole heir of the noble family of Scipios. Laura trained under him, completing small missions. Regular missions would be the disposal of hellhounds, which used to run amok back then and the furies when they come to the world of mortals for a snack. Her father tasked her to do such things for two reasons.

a) To protect the innocent.

b) To get back at Nyx, primordial goddess of Night and sister to Erebus.

To many's surprise, Erebus is not evil.

Cruel, harsh, brutal? Yes. But evil? No.

Being the personification of darkness, does not mean that it's the same as being the personification of evil. No, darkness and evil are two entirely different concepts, but thanks to his sister, Nyx, gods, demigods and mortals alike have seen darkness and evil as the same, merging the two concepts into one.

As she grew up in Rome, Laura became proficient at fighting with dual blades, a gift from her father. Both blades 2 feet long. Stygian iron blades, dipped in the River Styx, silver accents adorned the edge of the blade, the blade, the darkest shade of black you've ever seen. The grip, just simply leather-wrapped. In the centre of the hilt, was a black gem, darkness swirling constant in the gym.

At the age of 22, her father decided she should take a break, and paid for her a trip to New York, where she will stay. Erebus thought that New York will be much safer than Rome where monsters lurk at every corner.

For Aether, he too has fallen for a mortal, and through her, Jim Jackson was born. Jim grew up in the sunny side of Los Angeles, California. Fitting for the son of primordial god of Light and Upper Air.

Jim was more in touch with the mortals, going to school and posing as a regular mortal, but threaten anyone he care for, and the tip of his halberd will be pointed at your neck before your brain could process anything.

Though Aether wasn't as hands on as raising Jim as Erebus has raised Laura, the primordial god did help guide Jim when he was learning how to control light and air.

Aether watched over his son, and guided him as much as he could, almost breaking the Ancient Laws at the same time.

He couldn't help but be proud of his heir, he didn't send Jim out for missions, he wanted Jim to be normal, to enjoy life stress-free. But even Aether couldn't control the monsters chasing after his son. Jim's scent almost as strong as that of a child of the Big Three. Aether could only watch as his son combatted all of those monsters, and with each fight, with each encounter, his powers over light and air grew.

Using his inherited powers of Photokinesis, Jim would shoot a blinding burst of light to his enemies, dazing them, and killing them swiftly. Or he could use his power of Aerokinesis, to thicken the air before him to make a shield, blocking any attacks towards him.

Aether would watch with pride, seeing his only son, his pride, fighting each and every monster with as much vigour and strength he could muster. He knew that his son would be a great warrior, an amazing fighter.

Aether has also watched when Jim collided with Laura in the middle of a forest. Jim has been fighting with a Laistrygonian, 8 feet tall and his canine teeth bared.

The Laistrygonian fought him it's iron club to Jim's celestial bronze halberd. The Laistrygonian grabbed a tree, ripping it from it's roots, and chucking it at Jim, who wasn't expecting that, knocking him down. Jim tried to recover fast, but he stumbled as he stood back up. The monster took the opportunity and swung the iron club, Jim still dazed, could barely parry the attack, the force from the iron club was able to knock Jim off his feet once again, Jim landing on his butt, his weapon also knocked from his loose grip.

The halberd skirting 10 feet away from him, out of reach. The Laistrygonian stood before him, iron club raised high, about to deliver a killing blow to Jim, a blast of dark energy hit the monster on it's side, distracting it from Jim for a few seconds. Before it could process anything, a Stygian Iron blade has been dug straight into it's chest, and just like that, it erupted into a stream of monster dust. Standing before him, her dual blades at the ready, was Laura Scipio.

She was wearing a breastplate made from Stygian Iron with gold accents on the edges, her greaves the same. A black cape was fastened to her armour. Jim couldn't help but think of her as a gladiator. She wasn't wearing a helmet, so Jim was able to see her intense black eyes, alabaster skin framed by charcoal hair. She sheathed her dual blades. Took a step forward, and lent Jim her hand. Jim took it.

"Thanks, I owe you." Jim after finding his voice. It's not everyday when a pretty girl rescued you from your death. The 22-year-old's armour melted into regular clothes, black skinny jeans, with a simple grey tank top. Her dual blades has turned to identical bracelets on her wrists.

"Owe me, huh? Well, how familiar are you with Los Angeles? I've been lost in this blasted city for gods know how long. I could need some assistance." Laura's accent entranced Jim. He gave her a lopsided grin.

"Born and raised here. I could help get your way around LA." Jim offered his arm out for Laura, which she tentatively accepted. They walked out of the forest, and began their journey as Jim Jackson and Laura Scipio.

8 years later, with 5 years into their marriage, they had a baby girl, named Sally Jackson.

From Sally Jackson, came Perseus Jackson.

Sally was fully aware of her heritage, and the power running through her veins. She did her best to keep Percy away from all this, she used her own powers to kill any monsters within a 5 mile radius while they went out. It was exhausting keeping the secret from Percy so when he came back from his first quest retrieving the Zeus's lightning bolt, she spilt everything, his heritage, the powers he held, and who he really is. Sally had made Percy promise to not reveal his heritage yet, the council cannot know how powerful Percy is, they will surely think of him as a threat.

In secret, for the past years, Sally trained Percy in using his powers of darkness and light. Poseidon coming in to watch while his son trained and helped him with his endurance training. Yes, this was a breach of the Ancient Laws, but surprisingly the Fates had allowed an exception. They knew that Percy will be the key to many things in the future, best to have him trained than for him to accidentally ruin the course of what they had foreseen.

Back to the present time, Percy, son of Poseidon, great-grandson of Erebus and Aether, descendant of the noble roman family of Scipios, was at war.

The trip to Tartarus ignited a dark flame in his heart. The dark recesses of his mind whispered things to him.

 _Lose control_ , they whispered, _Don't let them control you. You're better than this, why stay with these fools, you could rule over the-_

"Can you shut up," Percy growled.

The others turned to him.

They were sitting down on the grass, having a lunch. They thought they deserved a little break. The Athena Parthenos stood tall and mighty on the hillside.

"Nobody was talking?" Frank asked, confused. Annabeth looked at Percy, worry etched into her features, gripped his hand a little tighter. Nico, who sat across him, furrowed his eyebrows, a silent _are you alright_ was asked.

"I'm fine", Percy said shaking his head, trying to shake the voices out, "I'm just tired."

Nobody could blame him, he and Annabeth did just came back from Tartarus.

Reyna, who has been standing, looking at the ancient statue, looked at Percy. She studied him for a minute. Percy couldn't help notice how normal Reyna looked, with her purple Camp Jupiter T-shirt, though the knife at her belt and the guarded expression she carried ruined the normality.

"Hey Reyna," He heard Annabeth called, "Come join us."

Percy zoned out after that, while the others shared their storied to Reyna, he thought about his next move. Should he tell the others about his secret? He felt bad keeping it from Annabeth, his girlfriend, and Nico, his brother in all but blood. Should he tell the gods too? Does Hades and Zeus know? So many questions, so many thoughts, if only he had help—

"Rooaarrr!" There goes their moment of peace.

The demigods stood up and drew their blades. They came face to face, a very familiar, very ugly, face.

The manticore is back.


	3. Breakdown

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus.**

 **AN: The chapter titles similar to the original are the ones that are following the original storyline, the titles like for this chapter, are for the chapters that are completely from my storyline. The point of view will follow the character's name in the title.**

 **Breakdown - Nico**

 **It still looked ugly.**

It's eyes, brown and blue, stared at them with hungry eyes. The lion body tensed, ready to pounce, it's tail up in the air, ready to shoot poisonous spikes.

Nico grimaced, the last time he had encountered the Manticore was with Bianca, right before the Manticore fell off the cliff with Annabeth in tow.

"Well, well, well. Look at what I have here. Just the demigods I was looking for," the Manticore said, his voice ringing across the hill. As he spoke, a few more monsters appeared, a pack of hellhounds and some empousas. They fanned out by the manticore's side.

"You still look as ugly as ever," Percy blurted out. Nico gave him a look, _are you serious?_ The manticore roared in response, and charged. The rest of the monsters following suit.

The demigods dispersed.

"Frank, Hazel and I will take care of the hellhounds," Piper shouted, drawing her sword.

"Jason, Reyna and the supreme commander will take the cheerleaders," Leo shouted back, his club hammer on fire, swinging at the empousas. Whether the hammer was on fire on purpose or by accident, Nico will never know. That left Nico, Percy and Annabeth with Mr Ugly.

"Just like old times," Percy said to Annabeth and Nico, who nodded their heads. The manticore shot a volley of spikes, and the trio scattered around. Nico turned to see the Manticore advancing toward Percy and Annabeth, only interested in them it seems.

Nico shot a bolt of darkness to the side of the Manticore, it roared in response. He shot a few more, some hitting the manticore, some missing as it tried to dodge. While distracted with Nico, Annabeth jabbed the Manticore on it's side, through his ribs. It bellowed in pain, Annabeth took a few steps back and so did the Manticore, a trail of ichor following it.

Nico sunk into his shadow, reappearing in the manticore's shadow and taking the opportunity, he jab it right at the front, near the neck. The stygian blade buried deep into it's flesh. The manticore retaliated by stinging it's scorpion-like tail into Nico's calf. With a cry from Nico, the manticore took the chance and retreated 5 metres back.

"How dare you insolent demigods," it growled, "I was only supposed to take these two," nudging it's humanoid head towards Percy and Annabeth, "but it won't hurt to kill everybody else."

"Why would you— " Nico pushed Frank out of the way, just as a poison spike sailed over their heads. Frank silently thanked Nico, who grunted in return.

He looked around, and saw that the hellhounds, and empousas have been replaced with piles of golden monster dusts. Now everyone was surrounding the manticore. 9 demigods to 1 manticore.

"Ah, the little Hades boy, I see your sister isn't here to save you." The manticore laughed as Nico tensed up. A flame stirred in him, he was going to make that stupid manticore pay for that comment.

Nico stepped forward, "How dare you mention my sister." He surrounded the manticore with black energy, encasing it in what appears to be an orb. Nico channelled as much anger as he could, and released it onto the Manticore. It cried out in pain, ichor flowing freely from the wounds, it's cry of pain music to Nico's ears.

"Not bad, boy," the Manticore said shakily, limping towards the demigods. "But not enough! I am the fearsome Manticore! I'll take the Sea God's son and Wisdom's daughter as sacrifices to Mother Gaea, the rest of you will be my snacks. You have no idea what's happening godlings, the power that the giants have. I will be at the rightful ruler's side while all of you fall with your parents!"

He shot another volley of spikes, it's tips green with poison. Everybody else dodged, rolling away. Nico could barely move fast enough, his calf flaring in pain as the spikes came in endless waves. Spikes rooted all over the hillside, which didn't help Nico's situation as he stupidly tripped over one of the spikes. He landed on he's back, the poison in his leg starting to flow to the rest of his body. He could see the Manticore grinning in satisfaction, as it fired a wave of spikes towards Nico. He tried to summon a shield from the shadows around him, but realised miserably he doesn't have enough strength. He closed his eyes, his arms in front of him in an 'X', trying to protect himself as he can.

"Nobody," Percy breathed out heavily, "Nobody hurts my family, you'll be sent back to Tartarus for trying." He was breathing heavily. The demigods looked up. Nico sat there, in shock, seeing the green tip of a spike inches away from his face. The spike unmoving as it was embedded right below Percy Jackson's sternum. Annabeth and Hazel screamed. They tried to move towards Percy but the manticore, advanced towards them with his speed, and pushed them away with it's body. _Oh why do manticores, have such high endurance_ , Nico thought bitterly.

Percy stood there, breathing heavily, everybody aghast.

"This is not how I planned, I was supposed to take you in alive, but oh well, somebody else can be sacrificed." The manticore grinned. Annabeth looked livid, if looks can kill, the manticore would already but in Tartarus.

"I'll kill you right where you—""Ah,ah,ah. Even if you kill me, will good will that do you? There are thousands more of surprises from Mother Earth, every turn, every passageway you'll do down is heavily armed with monsters, you kill me now, but someone else will kill you later on—"

The manticore choke on his words, literally choke on his words as Percy wrapped his hands around it's neck. It tried to wrestle out of Percy's grip, but Percy, eyes filled with dark determination, tried to squeeze the life force right out of him. The tail jutted forward, it's spike aimed right at his temple, but with his right, he caught it, not caring for the spike that pierced his skin.

"Did you not hear what I just said? Nobody is getting hurt on my watch." Percy growled. He pulled the tail forward with his right hand, the manticore landing on it's head. Percy kicked the manticore on it's side, right where Annabeth had wounded it. It roared, but stayed on the ground, laying on it's back.

Percy raised his hand, his fingers curled as the water in the air condense, creating a trident made out of ice. He gripped the trident tightly, and walked towards the lame manticore. He thrust the trident, prongs down straight into the tail. It roared. A paw tried to swipe Percy away, but Percy summoned another ice trident and thrusts it into the arm.

Ignoring the whimpers from the monster, he pointed Riptide at it's throat. "What monsters," Percy demanded, "Where are they stationed at."

Everybody just stare at Percy gobsmacked, their jaws dropping in shock. Nico saw fear in some of their eyes. Annabeth looked horrible, she looked like she was about to breakdown.

"What makes you think I'll tell you—", the sentence wasn't finish as Percy slowly ran Riptide right through it's stomach. "Arrgghh! Ther-there will be a gathering at Odysseus's Palace, the on-one in Ithaca for all the spirits under Gaea. Those spi-spirits are one of Gaea's armies, she summoned spirits with a thirst for vengeance against the Olympians, and is using them as one of her armies." "And!", Percy demanded. "An-and Delphi has been taken over by Gaea's forces, everything in a 5 mile radius, heavily guarded. No prophecies have gotten out since the takeover, Apollo and his oracles rendered useless."

"Anything else", an edge in Percy's voice.

"No-nothing", the manticore hesitated. An ice trident pierced it's right paw. "Alright, alright! The Straits of Corinth is swamped with cyclops armies left and right, and the waters are infested with Keto's children." "Thanks for the info." The last thing the manticore saw was Percy's evil smile before Riptide went right through his skull.

The rest of the demigods watch as Percy turned to face them, the cold smile still plastered on his face. Everybody tensed, scared out of their wits for Percy and of Percy. Then he flinched, as if something jolted him back to reality. He was looking down, his hands opened and closed, as if he was not used to being in his body. Percy continued to shake, his shaking spreading from his hands to his whole body, getting more rapid by the second. He fell onto his knees, eyes closed tight.

"No, get out, I won't— I'll never— I…" Percy whispered, he grabbed his head, the air getting colder, the ground near him, frozen. A blue-black aura surrounded him. Annabeth took a shaky step forward. She opened her mouth but before any words came out, a blast of ice and darkness interrupted her.


	4. Visions

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus.**

 **AN: This chapter's a bit on the slow side but I'll make up for it for the next update on Thursday. (Yup, updating a chapter in less then 3 days.)**

 **Visions - Percy & Annabeth**

 **Percy's mind felt like it was being made into ice cream.**

It was churning and churning, and after awhile, his brain went cold. What's worse is that the coldness traveled to the rest of his body, particularly wrapping around his heart.

His vision of the hillside blurred, he closed his eyes, trying to keep his focus in check, stop the spinning momentum that's happening. Percy opened his eyes, and it widens. He's standing in a classroom, the four walls painted platinum white. He was sitting in a chair, a straitjacket on him. It reminded him of his dream when he was 12 years old. He looked to his side, expecting Thalia also in a straitjacket, just as she was in the original dream.

But she wasn't there.

Percy turned his head, and look forward, spotting a figure at the teacher's table. The figure had sunglasses on, casually leaning on the chair, his legs are propped on the oak table.

"Hello Perseus," the figure said in a deep voice, "You feeling alright over there?"

"Who, who are you?" Percy couldn't quite place it, but he knew this figure.

"You don't recognise me?", the figure said chuckling, though the chuckling was dark. "What if I did this", his hand reached up to take off the sunglasses. Steely sea green eyes stared back into widened sea green eyes. The figure had tousled midnight tuffs as hair, it would have been messy but it was gelled back giving him a resemblance to a greaser. Adding on the image of greaser was the troublemaker smirk that adorned his face. There was a faint scar at the edge of his cheek, which was prominent on his tanned face.

He tugged on the cuffs of his dark grey suit, looking like he just came from an Armani photoshoot. "Do you know who I am now."

Percy stared, mouth agape. Was he looking at the mirror? "You're me," he croaked out, not believing his eyes. "That's right, Perseus. I am you and most importantly, you are me. I am the representation of your fears, your animalistic instincts, your darkness. And I'm here to teach you something you need to know."

He waved his hand, and the scene around them changed. Percy was still in the straitjacket, while Dark Percy sat at a throne in front of him. Not just any throne, but Zeus's throne. He was in the throne room of Olympus, but the thrones of the Olympians have shrunk down to human size, surrounding Percy. But what caught his eyes, was that the rest of the thrones were on fire, some destroyed, reduced to rubble leaving only the marble base.

The throne was demolished, the pillars were strewn all over the room. All you need were running tracks, and it could have a low budget Olympics hurdle race. Who in the name of Hades tore down this—

"I did this," Dark Percy said proudly. He sat in the same position in the King of the Gods throne, a classic roman armour was donned on him. A crown perched on his head. Riptide was leaning onto the platinum throne. "I tore down Olympus, this is all done by me, by us! This is our power Perseus! Why would you listen to these ignorant fools? They're corrupted, horrible rulers! We could be better rulers than these 'gods'."

"I— No, get out of my mind."

"Our mind," Dark Percy corrected. "I won't do this, I'll never do this, why would I—" "Naive," Dark Percy shook his head.

"I am you, Perseus. You can't hide from me. What you are seeing, this is what you really want. Your true wish in life is to see the Olympians off their thrones, to have better rulers. And who else better to rule than the Hero and Saviour of Olympus? Us! We are fit to be the king of Olympus, we just need to tear it down brick by brick to get rid of the corruption."

Percy shook his head, ridden in denial. "Stubborn, that's why I'm here. I'm gonna make you see that it's not worth saving the Olympians."Dark Percy started walking towards him, grabbing Riptide.

"Get away from me, get away." Percy started moving in his restraints, trying to loosen the strait jacket. Dark Percy raised his hand about to grab his head when a dark aura bust out of him, blasting everything around him.

"Rest my boy," He heard a calm voice said into his ear, before his vision blacked out.

 **Annabeth tried to run to him but Nico held her back.**

"Let go of me, he's hurt, he needs help, he needs me," Annabeth repeated, thrashing in Nico's arms, tears threatening to spill down her eyes.

"Get down!" Nico heard Reyna shout, but he couldn't stop staring at Percy, completely baffled at what's happening to him. But before the cold wave could hit them, it stopped in mid air, before it dissipated, leaving a salty breeze. "What just happened?", Hazel asked, puzzled. "Is it safe," Leo asked, he was crouching behind Piper. He grinned sheepishly at Piper before she smacked him on her shoulder.

"Rest my boy," they heard a deep voice say. They looked at Percy's direction to see a man, deeply tanned, black waves as hair, hugging Percy. Percy went limp in his arms, his body following his father's command. They watched as the Lord of the Seas, clad in celestial bronze armour, with a sea-green trimming, his blue cape, fastened by a trident pin, billowing in the air as he walked towards the stunned demigods. He stood in front of them, his face blank. They all bowed, but the god shook his head.

"No, no. It is bad enough that I have to sit back while my son endured such pain. No, I should be the one bowing to you. You lot of demigods," Poseidon turned to observed the heroes in front of him, "aged 13 to 17, sacrificed your innocence, your security, and your lives to protect us gods." The Sea King took a deep breath, "I will not stand for this anymore, bullocks to Zeus's orders. You demigods have my word that the sea will protect you. I will do my best to protect and guide you lot in your perilous journey to save mankind. You have my word." Poseidon finished, the solemn look on his face foreign for someone who is usually light-hearted.

"My Lord, I thank you for offering your help but—" Jason was interrupted by a burst of light. The demigods looked away from the blinding light.

"If you're gonna break the rules fish face, so are we," said a voice that Annabeth knows all too well. The demigods turned to see Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Demeter, Hestia, Hermes and surprisingly Ares and Dionysus. More than half the Olympian Council was in front of them. The demigods tried to bow but Athena held her hand up.

"No heroes, what Poseidon said is right," Athena started, "We cannot sit back and watch our children be thrown into another war, fighting for our safety. We may be gods, lived thousands of years, fought countless of wars and battles, but we will never, understand what you all went through to get here." "We will help you as Uncle Poseidon mentioned, we will do our best to aid you in your journey," Aphrodite finished. Apollo waved his hand around the demigods, muttering words in ancient greek. A light covered the demigods then it died down revealing clean and wound-free half-bloods.

"My lords and ladies, forgive for asking, but are you all not suffering headaches?" Frank spoke up, after recovering from his shock that _the_ Olympians were in front of him and offering their help. "We were, but thinking of our children, thinking of their valour, we were united. As it matters not whether Greek or Roman, our children are still our children. The innocent blood spilt won't matter of your heritage" Hermes replied, shaking his head. His fellow gods nodding in agreement.

Thunder painted the sky. _Zeus knows_ , _but he's not doing anything to stop this. Odd._ Annabeth pondered.

"Are you all not fearful of what Lord Jupiter and Lady Juno gonna say?" Hazel asked. "They have nothing to fear," Poseidon said, "Not with 4 of the elder gods supporting this." "Four but there are only three of you here now?" Leo said, pointing at Poseidon, Demeter, and Hestia.

"Count again, fire user," said a dark voice. The shadows on the hills moved towards one central point of the valley, the temperature freezing. A figure in robes stepped out of the shadows, and walked towards the group. The rich one stood before them in all his dark glory.

"Nice entrance brother, I see you're taking Zeus's role as God of Theatre," Poseidon remarked, mischief in his eyes, and a teasing tone at the end of sentence. "No, no brother. Nobody can take our brother's role as Olympus's official Drama Queen." Hades said, a slightest trace of a smile on his pale face.

"Heroes, what are your plans now?" Athena asked, interrupting the godly brotherly moment. _No surprise there, mom asking about plans_ , Annabeth thought. Piper stepped forward, ready to tell all but Artemis interrupted her. "Wait child, let us speak on your ship."


	5. War Plan & A Father's Confession

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus.**

 **War Plan & Father's Confession - Annabeth & Nico**

 **Annabeth**

 **They settled for the mess hall.**

Poseidon had taken Percy somewhere else, somewhere 'my son needs to be' was what he said before his form turned to mist. Annabeth's heart ached terribly being separated from her boyfriend, after Tartarus, their spirit became one, they're each other's halves. Gods, hopefully he'll won't be away for too long.

Hestia muttered a few words in ancient greek, she raised her hand and opened her palm. A small fire burst from her palm before sparks flew off her palm and ran into the walls of the mess hall. The sparks spread all over the walls, coating it in a thin layer of fire.

"There, nobody will be eavesdropping on us anytime soon." Athena let her hand hover above the wooden table, the top glowed for a minute before maps appeared on the mess table. The Olympians conjured extra seats for themselves, and sat beside their children. Annabeth went first, "The Manticore revealed that there will be a gathering at Ithaca. The spirits that Gaea had released and will be one of her armies that will be attacking Camp Half-Blood. If we were to travel to Athens for the final awakening of Gaea happing in one month, we must travel around the Peloponnese. Finally, Mt. Parnassus has been overtaken by enemy forces, blocking any power from the oracle."

"My oracle," Apollo moaned, "Father was furious at me for letting those blasted creatures infest my holy island. My old enemy is back, curse Gaea for letting Python out of the Underworld!"

"Brother," Artemis sighed, she clearly has heard this over a million times, "Your oracle is not the number one priority as of now." Apollo glared at his sister, ready to retort but Hermes spoke before he could. "And what of the statue? You sacrificed a lot for it young lady," pointing a finger at Annabeth. Annabeth noticed Athena winced when Hermes mentioned sacrifice, but let that slide first.

"I'll bring it," Reyna said firmly, "I'll bring it to the greek camp. A reconciliation between the greeks and romans, the Athena Parthenos, one of the Greeks famous symbol of power, returned by a roman." "A roman leader," Nico corrected. "I'm afraid not, I travelled over here, and broke the ancient laws, I should be stripped of my preatorship." Ares switched to his roman form. Mars stood up, his roman gladiator amor gleamed in the light, taking his sunglasses off.

"Listen here, daughter of Bellona, as patron of Rome, you have my respect. The greatest warriors of Rome are not those who followed the rules with a stick up their asses. The greatest warriors are those who follow instinct, they listen to their guts. You did just that, listening to your guts the whole journey here. You're a good warrior, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, you should be proud." Reyna was speechless, the patron of Rome has just complimented her, Annabeth looked at her friend with a proud smile. "Thank you, Lord Mars. It is an honour Sir." "You and my kid will lead the Twelve Legion when you came back from the war. Ain't that right, my boy?" Mars roughly patted Frank on the shoulder, Frank managed to give his father a small smile, though he was wincing from the pain.

Athena looked deep in thought, "You have my approval, roman."

"Now, how about the spirits in Ithaca? We can't simply ignore that, yes we have information about Gaea's plans but are we going to let such a mass gathering be left untouched right under our noses?" Demeter asked, looking pointedly at Hades at the same time. He closed his eyes, "There are approximately 300 of these spirits, if I were you all, I would sneak in, see what information these spirits can offer, then send them back to the Underworld." He opened his eyes, looked at his children, "If you were to heed my advice, I suggest that you don't bring my children, the dead knows when my children is around."

"We'll split up into three teams then, one group goes with the Athena Parthenos, I propose a group of 3, Reyna included in the group of course. Another group shall go survey and later eradicate the spirits. The final group will stay on the ship as lookout." Annabeth summed things up. "At the same time, since the gods," she gestured to said gods, "are helping us, is it alright if we split up the godly help?"

"And how would we do that, Chase?" Hermes asked, intrigued.

"Lord Ares, Mr. D and Lady Demeter, can be stationed mostly at Camp Half-Blood. Dionysus and Demeter helping the greeks prepare, Katie and her cabin could help with the defence along with the Dionysus, Hermes and Apollo cabin. While Ares could convince the romans to change their mind about the attack."

"Or my dad could just kill Octavian and we'll have 80% of our problems be gone," Frank muttered. The demigods all heard him and nodded their heads. Annabeth continued, "Lady Artemis will of course be with her hunters, but maybe for this battle, it'll help our chances if the hunters cooperate with the amazons."

"Hunters and amazons, side by side," Artemis mused, "My, my. What a combination. I have no promises about that, hunters and Amazons have never worked together before, we have differences you see, that may be difficult to overcome."

"Never had there been a group of demigods who went to the Land beyond the Gods and yet Perseus, Hazel and Frank came back with the Legion's eagle. Nor had the roman camp ever had a Greek preator and yet they raised Percy on the shield. However difficult or even impossible it seems to overcome, there is a way if you have determination," Hestia's gentle voice rang throughout the room.

"Perseus Jackson," Artemis said slowly, as if it's a incantation. "Going against all odds, even when Hera took his memories," she smiled. "Very well, I'll rendezvous with my Hunters and we shall seek out Queen Hylla for her assistance." Annabeth smiled, despite her boyfriend not being here, he could still impress and make people hopeful, gods how she wished her Seaweed Brain was here.

"That leaves Lord Apollo, Lady Minerva, Lady Vestal, Lady Venus, Lord Vulcan, Lord Mercury and Lord Pluto, right?" Said gods flickered for a minute to their roman forms, "We would prefer to be in our Greek forms, Jason, the headaches will cause wrinkles," Aphrodite said, gently rubbing her temple, flickering slightly to Venus. Jason apologised and smiled sheepishly at the gods.

"They'll be the godly group assisting us in our travels and battle plans, for both guidance and in the need of defeating a giant." A voice said. From the shadows, Percy and his father stepped out, seeing him back made Annabeth warm and tingly, her nerves instantly calmed down. Gods how she wished to be in his arms. "We'll need another group as well actually, one to combat the force on Delphi."

"That's suicide, do you know how many monsters there are? You're just going to go to your Uncle the hard way, Percy," Hermes proclaimed.

"Disregard the number of monsters on Delphi, if we were to rid the place completely of enemy forces, just imagine how strategic the location of Mt Parnassus is and how much of an advantage we'll have. If we sail around the Peloponnese to reach Athens at the speed of Argo II, it'll take us approximately 3 to 4 weeks to reach Athens, including the sea travel and the drawbacks that we know we'll have. If we sail to the Straits of Corinth, take care of the enemy forces, we'll have a strategic location, and we'll cut down on travel time by maybe 1 to 2 weeks. With that extra time, we can use that time to sharpen our skills, repair any damages to the ship, heal any injuries and at the same time, carefully predict our next step." Percy pointed to the map and articulated his plan by using his fingers to trail the map of Greece. The gods and demigods thought deeply about his plan.

"And how would you combat the monsters, both sea and on land, Jackson?" Ares asked, his sunglasses catching on fire, from excitement or from rage, Annabeth will never know. "You can leave Keto and her children to my son and I," Poseidon started. "After the seas are clear, we can use camp there for a day, we can send Frank, transformed into an inconspicuous animal to scout the land, before reporting back and then we can plan our next move. We can either attack in waves or we hop to each enemy base and slowly takeover each territory." Percy finished. Ares whistled, "That's a good plan, punk. Maybe there is hope for you after all."

"That is a good plan," Athena admitted, "But still quite risky, there's a lot of variables in this plan that are not within our control." "Risky but think of the strategic location and the time saved will be to our advantage," Artemis concluded.

Annabeth thought hard, and spoke up, "I agree with Percy's idea, mom, risky yes, but if the plan was executed perfectly, we'll have the upper hand in the war."

"Very well," after a moment's silence. "Anyone here who disagrees to his plan?" Her question was met with silence. "Alright, so Reyna should be going first and be on her merry way to Camp Half-Blood," Apollo cleared the silence, "Who shall accompany her?"

"I will," Nico's confidence unwavering. Hades shared a look with his son, a silent conversation between them.

"And the last companion shall be?", Reyna left it hanging.

"Gleeson Hedge," Dionysus suggested, "If the war is won, can't have the demigods have all the glory. My satyrs need to shine too."

"Nico, Reyna and Coach Hedge, it is." "Where is Coach Hedge?" Leo asked. "Having a Bruce Lee marathon in his cabin." The demigods face-palmed. "He's having a marathon while we're having a crucial war meeting." Disbelief written across Piper's face. "Can someone bring him here?" Dionysus waved his hand, and said satyr appeared, in the middle of him rampant swinging. "What, what happened? I was in the middle of practicing my swings and I'm hereeeee," He drawled at the end of the sentence, realising that the Olympians were here. He immediately bowed, "My-my lords and la-ladies, I didn't realise you were here." The demigods spent the next few minutes explaining to Coach Hedge.

 **Nico**

The gods went back to Olympus to reduce any suspicion with Zeus and Hera. The rest of the demigods went to their cabins to retire. Poseidon stayed back to talk to Percy privately, while Hades pulled Nico aside. Nico watched Hades motion to Hazel, asking her to come to him.

"I know, I'm not a great father, I wasn't there when you needed me, I couldn't help when you needed guidance." Nico looked at Hazel, he saw her jaw locked, like she was trying keep her anger in, he's expression was probably the same. _We don't need to be reminded of what type of father you are,_ Nico thought. "I know what I say next won't matter so much, but," He paused for a second, he put his hand on both their shoulders. He waited for either Nico or Hazel to push his hand off, but they didn't.

"Please know that you are my greatest pride and joy in the world, you have made me a proud father, no matter what happens, you're heroes in my eyes. You will always have a place in the underworld, as a home, of course. I," He struggled for a minute, "I don't want to see you join me permanently in the underworld, I can't bear to see either of you hurt. Maybe after the war, we can spend more time as a family." His last sentence was laced with something that was foreign to the lord of the dead; hope. The children of the dead stayed silent, Nico nodded after while, but Hazel being more vocal, responded, "Don't expect us to warm up to you after years of neglect. We still hold a grudge for being left alone and abandoned by our own father, you will never under how we feel." Nico remembered when Bianca warned him about his fatal flaw.

"Dear child, I have been neglected and tossed aside by my own family for millenniums, if anyone know what it feels like to be abandoned, it'll be me. I know what exactly what you're feeling to, to a deeper extent. That is why, I am swallowing my pride and asking if you would forgive me for my behaviour towards you, my own children, my flesh and blood."

"I forgive you," Nico speaking for the first time, since Hades called the two of them. "How can you just forgive him like that, after years of emotional torment." Hazel looked at him in shock. Nico turned to his sister, he spoke softly, "Bianca once told me that our fatal flaw, as our father's children, is holding a grudge. We need to let go of the past." Hazel looked deep in thought. She looked pass Nico and at Hades, "It'll take time for me to forgive, and I need more proof that you're genuine." Hades walked up to the brother and sister and tentatively gave them a brief hug. "I understand," Hades replied, "I look forward to the day that my children forgive me." His form slowly flickered. Before he vanished, Nico swore that he saw his father gave them a smile.

Next Chapter; Statue, Ithaca and Evil Fishes


	6. Solace in Family & Evil Fish

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus.**

 **Chapter summary: The nine half-bloods bond and have a heart-warming scene, send off, and the start of the Battle of the Mediterranean Sea.**

 **Solace in Family -Leo**

 **Leo was having a great lunch before the screams of bloody murder entered the mess hall.**

The romans peeps, Piper and himself were carrying on their lunch (or was it dinner?) that was interrupted from the Manticore, and Percy's burst of power and the gods coming down. Gods, the gods are finally helping them and he gets to work with his dad, and share with him Archimedes' scrolls, and gah, Leo was so excited that a spark flared at the tip of his hair. Piper's hand came to pat the fire out, completely used to this, while still listening to the conversation the romans were having, something about the statue and Octavian being flung on a catapult. They would have carried on more about flying scarecrows when the door slammed open, Percy coming through, with Annabeth and Nico hot on his heels.

"What on Earth were you thinking, standing in front of me, using yourself as a human shield," Nico yelled at him. Percy sighed, walked to the end of the hall, taking a goblet and watch it fill up with cobalt coke. "You don't need to risk your life for me, I can take care of myself," Nico gritted his teeth. "Are you ignoring me, I ought to— "

"We can talk about this later, Nico, we have other things to discuss," Annabeth cut in. She and Nico stared at each other, a silent argument between them. Nico sighed, defeated. _Of course, no one can win Annabeth Chase_ , Leo thought. He would have said that out loud, but fearing what Annabeth would do, he wisely shut his mouth.

"At least show me if the wound is healed," Nico asked Percy. Percy shook his head. Annabeth marched right beside her boyfriend and pulled him by the arm, and stared at him with her steely grey eyes. Though her eyes roared with determination, it also cried concern and worry. Percy lifted his shirt, up to his collarbone.

Revealed, right smack middle of his chest, was where the Manticore's spike pierced him. The wound was closed alright, but it was a deep purple, the edges a sickly green. Piper, and Hazel had turned away, not able to take the sight.

Leo winced, that must have hurt like Hades. He took everything in, the wound and the body of Percy Jackson. Don't get him wrong, he doesn't swing that way, but wow. No wonder so many girls chase him. _Handsome and the body of a god, he's everything you're not, everything that Calypso likes, everything Calypso wants_ , a small voice whispered into his head. Percy put his shirt down, looking very uncomfortable.

"Well, you always wanted a piercing right," Leo joked, breaking the tension. Frank snorted, trying his best to not laugh. Hazel gave a smile, even Reyna had amusement in her eyes. Piper shaking his head, "Repair boy," she muttered.

"So how are we gonna transport the statue?", Reyna asked, getting serious again.

"My dad will send a celestial bronze raft made by the cyclops in Atlantis' forges custom fitted for the Athena Parthenos. They'll be handled by hippocampus, fast transportation. A few warriors from my army will be by your side throughout your voyage. But they can only carry you guys to the Straits of Gibraltar, specifically to the town of Tarifa in Spain. The crossing between the Atlantic Ocean will be too risky, knowing Keto and Polybotes forces are present there. From there, Nico could take over with shadow travel."

Leo wasn't used to the serious side of Percy. All throughout the travels, Leo and Percy would holler stupid jokes at each other, seeing as they have a similar sense of humour. Maybe those jokes were just a cover-up, at least it was for Leo.

Maybe Tartarus took the playfulness out of Percy.

"Did you just say 'my army'? Since when did you have an army?" Frank asked, puzzled all over his face. Percy cursed under his breath, not believing that he let it slip out.

"Before I was taken by the Hera," He spoke slowly, carefully choosing his words, "My dad crowned me. I, along with Triton, am the Prince of Atlantis. With this title, my dad thought it be best if he taught me undersea politics and more importantly, how to control his army. I wasn't able to call on them before now because of my memory loss and yeah." He faltered at the end, not liking the attention he's getting.

You could see jealousy on Jason's face, fascination on Reyna's, and pride in Nico's and Annabeth's faces.

"Woah, your dad could do that? Thought gods aren't supposed to be directly involved in their children's lives?" Piper asked. "The seas doesn't like to be restrained," Percy shrugged.

Nico and Hazel yawned, catching everyone's attention. They blushed and apologised.

"Now, now. Let's get the children to bed, they have small kid metabolism, can't have them staying up all night." Leo looked at Hazel and Nico. Hazel blushed but Nico glared, though it's half-hearted knowing that it's Percy that's joking.

"You guys go to your cabins, Percy and I will just stay on deck," Annabeth said. Piper gave her a look, doubt and concern in her kaleidoscope eyes. She stared at her, till Annabeth sighed, worn down. "Alright, Percy and I wanted to sleep on the deck, be under the stars, and—" "And relish the feeling of being back in the mortal world?" Reyna finished for her. Annabeth hesitantly nodded her head, looking away at the occupants of the room.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about," Hazel cut in. "You, Percy and Nico went through hell, literally, you and Percy just coming out of Tartarus a few hours ago. You guys can take your time to ease your way back and get comfortable. No one will judge you, we understand." Percy shot her a grateful smile. "If you guys are going to sleep on the deck, then so am I." Hazel said firmly. Leo shot her a questionable look, why sleep on a wooden floor when you can a comfy bed and pillows made from unicorn. Then again, Leo himself sleeps in the Engine Room, if he sleeps at all.

"We're a team, we should be supporting each other. Physically and emotionally. If Gaea is going to come after us, then we'll retaliate back tenfold as a team." Hazel said, confidently.

Reyna spoke up, "I agree with Hazel, as the seven— "

"— not as the seven, all of us here, you and Nico included. All of us here are a team, and— and a family, to me at least," Hazel confessed. "A family, huh," Leo mused. "Hate to break your spirit, Hazel, but we're fresh out of family. We are all broken people in our own way. We are all just broken pieces, how is that a family?" They stared at Leo, gobsmacked that he's brought up this topic, but Leo has had it.

All throughout the journey, Leo has been tormented by Gaea, by Nemesis, by the damn Fates, be it his love life, his dead family or just about him.

"You're right, Leo. All of us here, we're broken pieces of what we used to be. But what I've learnt from my journey in Tartarus," he wrapped his arm around Annabeth's waist, "that two broken halves, make one whole." He looked at each and every one of them, "It just so happens that we need nine broken pieces to complete one family." He let that settle into everyone's mind. He held Annabeth's hand and together, they walked out of the mess hall.

That night, nine demigods camped under the stars, whether you're their parents gazing down from Olympus or you're a Huntress in the sky, smiling upon them, guarding them, you know that they have finally found a place to call family.

* * *

When morning came, the trio made of the scary praetor, a blood thirsty satyr and freaky zombie dude, made their way to the Athena Parthenon.

Though on the raft the Cyclops made (Leo was impressed by the craftsmanship), the Athena Parthenon looked like a mobile lighthouse, a mobile, magical lighthouse. Piper and Hazel were admiring the Hippocampus, and Annabeth and Jason were speaking with Reyna. At the corner of his eye, Percy was talking privately with Nico.

Coach Hedge was already on the raft, double checking his supplies.

"My bat, check. My sandwiches, yes. My Bruce Lee documentaries, right there." Leo could hear him muttering to himself.

A green dude emerged from the waters, his blue tail separated into two legs and stood at attention on the shoreline, Percy noticed him and sighed. He finished his conversation with Nico and walked him to the shoreline where the raft was. Annabeth gave Reyna a hug and sent her best wishes. Hazel and Piper followed her example. Percy brought Nico in for a hug, despite Nico's protest, and stayed like that for a while. He saw Percy gave a brotherly kiss to Nico's forehead, he whispered something to Nico, took something out of his pocket and gave it to Nico. He smiled at him and to Leo's surprise, Nico smiled in return.

"My lord," He bowed to Percy, ignoring everyone else. "Journey from here to the Straits of Corinth will take approximately 2 hours. The soldiers have been positioned in three circles, surrounding the raft and your comrades. The first circle is at a 30 mile radius, the second at 15 miles, and the third will be just half a mile, able to attend to your friends' aid immediately." Percy nodded.

"Understood, General Vaskos. I give you my thanks."

"It is nothing short of an honor, my Prince."

"After escorting them to Tarifa, and ensuring they reach safely, return back for the battle against Keto and her children."

"Yes, Prince Perseus." The green general walked back to the sea, his legs turning into a single tail. Percy sighed.

Very soon, the seven demigods watched as the magical statue, the trio and the group of sea dwellers disappeared from their sight.

* * *

While Jason, Piper and Annabeth scout Ithaca, Hazel, Frank, Leo and Percy stayed behind, deciding on what to do with the fish in the Mediterranean Sea.

"Don't worry, just leave it to me. My dad and brothers will be there and the army of Atlantis are all ready and deadly. The escort team for Nico, Reyna and Hedge has returned, after making sure they safely reached. General Vaskos reported that Nico had shadow-travelled out of Spain."

"Are you sure? The Manticore said they are countless of monsters, at least bring one of us with you." Frank argued. Hazel nodded her head.

The Prince of Seas just shook his head. "The three of you need to stay back, as a watch out for Piper, Jason and Annabeth. Hazel needs to put up her magic to conceal the three up there, Leo needs to look out for any emergency flares, and prepare for a quick getaway, and Frank is the only one who could reach the mountain tops at a moment's notice."

He put his hand on Leo's shoulders, "I'm leaving it to you Captain Sparrow," he flashed a grin to Leo. "Let me just take care of some evil fish and buy us some time to upgrade your baby." Leo grinned back, "Alright, Aquaman." Leo saluted for good measures. Percy gave a small chuckle, the first chuckle Leo heard from Percy since you know what.

Percy step forward, towards the mast. His camp T-shirt and jeans glowed blue. The light softened down to reveal an armoured son of Poseidon.

A sleek traditional breastplate was donned on his chest. His greaves and arm braces with an intricate wave design. The waves etched in the metal moved constantly, as if the metal was fluid water, but don't let it fool you, the son of the blacksmith god knew the the metal was stronger than Celestial Bronze, and Imperial Gold. The ends of his greaves and arm braces curving at the end, like a shark's dorsal fin. In his right hand, was Riptide, his left carried a gold trident, it's prongs glowed green. Nestling in his raven hair, was a crown. It was simple, gunmetal black with sea-green trimmings, and followed the same metal composition as his armour, Leo concluded.

The three demigods could only stare. Here is a god in all but blood. His black armour gleamed in the sunlight. He nodded to the three and dived into the sea.

* * *

 **Evil Fish - Percy**

"Delphin, what's the situation, now?" Percy asked, spotting his father's lieutenant immediately.

An armoured dolphin is hard to miss.

They had camped on the ocean floor, 38° west of where the Argo II was stationed, 500 miles below sea level. A scroll was opened up on a long piece of coral, presumably their makeshift table. His father's generals, Triton and Tyson surrounded the table. Tyson waved his club at him, smiling brightly when their eyes met.

"Keto has called forth her oldest and most gruesome children, some so ancient I have forgotten about them," The dolphin's voice weary, "We are located here," his flipper tapped the scroll, illuminating in response. "From our search and espionage team, we have learnt that Keto has placed the Lernaean Hydra and the Cetus here," he circled an area on the sandy scroll. "Their platoon lead by Keto herself. Stationed in the west, near the coast of Delphi is the Kraken, Phorkys and his army as reinforcements."

Percy took a moment, processing and thinking. "Don't hurt yourself thinking so much, little brother." Triton asked, teasing him.

Did Percy mentioned that he's relationship with Amphitrite and Triton improved after the Titan War? After awkward dinners with his dad's family and a near-death experience with a giant lobster (don't ask), they started warming up to Percy.

"What's our strength and theirs?", Percy asked.

"We have an army of a 500 with us here, and they have about 800."

"And what of our father?"

"He'll be joining us soon. He is organising the troops back at Atlantis and securing Amphitrite's and the civilians' security."

Percy folded his arms, deep in thought. "We can't use numbers as a strategy. With our current location we can easily be bottle necked and that'll be it for us. What I suggest is that we can attract the attention of the weaker and insignificant creatures on their side of the army, bring them up near the surface, call forth storms and electrocute them. By reducing our enemy line, we can then fully utilise our numbers, concentrating our strength into battling the tougher opponents, spreading the workload, and hopefully reducing the damage to our sides."

"Let me guess, you want to be that distraction?" Triton asked, his eyebrow raised. Percy grinned in response.

"They may work, my Prince," Delphin started, the God of Dolphins staring at the map, the countless sparks representing the enemy line glared back at him, "but what of the others?" "I'll head out first to distract and lure the smaller and weaker forces. You and your legion of dolphins, along with Triton, can head to the direction of the Lernaean Hydra and the Cetus. Palaemon," said God of Sharks looked at up at Percy, "you can take your whole legion and Tyson, along with half of our mersoldiers and face the forces of the Kraken." Percy looked at the map, one spot glowing brighter than the others, "The Kraken is located due north from us, and judging by the map, most of the enemy defences are stationed there."

"Yes, my lord," Palaemon replied. "I think it's best that after frying the small fish, that Triton and Delphin will be in charge in overtaking Keri, while Palaemon and I face Phorkys and the Kraken."

A blast of an explosion was heard, a piece of coral the size of a garbage truck obliterated.

"Understood brother, we shall heed your plan. Best you distract them now, they're getting feisty. I could feel their agitation in the movement of the sea." Triton said, patting Percy on the back. He nodded back, then looked at Tyson, "Let's see who can bust more heads, brothers." Triton smirked back, his eyes saying, _challenge accepted_. Tyson went with, "Good luck Brother! Peanut butter will protect you!"

Percy called forth his personal shark-driven chariot, and went off.

He zoomed past the camp and went directly to the enemy line. He expertly dodged every attack, every spike, every breath of flame and every ink squirted from the giant squids. He would point his trident at some of them, releasing a blast of energy, irritating them then driving off quickly towards the surface. He repeated the steps and before he realised, he had a handful of angry fish and crustaceans following him.

Percy felt like he was playing a very dangerous game of tag.

He asked his sharks to swim a tad bit faster. They broke surface and Percy took a breath of fresh air. He looked behind, finding the horde of sea creatures had increased— good.

He concentrated, trying to gather the clouds in the sky, trying to gather a storm. He's no child of Zeus, but being the son of the Stormbringer has some perks.

He asked his sharks to jump in the air (wouldn't want them to be fried too) and brought forth lightning.

He heard a crackle of thunder before he heard a loud ZAP! The noise carried on till his chariot splashed back into the sea.

Evil fish + Lightning = the Main Catch for Joe's Crab Shack specials. _Good to know_ , Percy thought.

He went zipped past the damage, and after finding that none survived, he steered ( _can you steer sharks?_ ) to the direction of his father. It's kraken time.

* * *

AN: I know I took long to update, but hopefully a longer chapter makes up for it. I also realised that it's mostly in Percy's view most of the time, so for the following chapters I'll try to make it in the other characters' perspective. Thanks for reading!

 **Next Chapter; Seafood Dinner, Nike Endorsement, and Shadow-Travelling Inconveniences.**


	7. Seafood, Nike & Inconveniences

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus.**

 **Chapter Summary; The take over of the Mediterranean Sea is in Percy's palms, the retune of the gods and hot damn, what have Reyna, Nico** **and Coach hedge got themselves in.**

* * *

 **Attack of the Seafood - Percy**

 **Percy lunged, blasted, and speared every fish that crossed paths with him.** If he wasn't risking his life in this battle, he would invited the other demigods to have a coral-lit seafood dinner, starting with an appetiser, at the bottom of the ocean.

He spotted Palaemon, taking a huge bite of a giant squid. He ripped it in half with his jaw, the squid dissolving into black mist. His other children were rampaging amongst the waters, ripping fish and Telekhines limb by limb, golden dust illuminating the dark waters.

It was amazing.

He joined Palaemon's side, "What's the status?"

"Thanks to you, the enemy forces lost around 150 troops. My legion and I have taken down around 150 troops as well, and from Delphin's soldiers, they have taken down 200 soldiers. That leaves around 300 monsters left."

They both dodged as a telekhine lunged towards them. He swung at them with it's spear. Percy sidestepped to his right, narrowly dodging it's spear. He grabbed it's spear with his right left hand, broke it off, swung the flat of his blade right on the telekhine's stout, effectively stunning it for a minute, before he stabbed it right in the neck with Riptide.

"Thank you, my lord." The sea prince waved his hand. The god of sharks went to aid his children while Percy took the time to carefully observe his surroundings. In the direction Palaemon went was a rocky ring. It basically looked like a caged ring of rocks. In his immediate surroundings, there were a horde of Telekhines fighting with 3 cyclops, a squad of squids were squirting ink at some mersoldiers, while Tyson was playing whak-a-snack with some leviathans.

Percy heard the ripple of waves behind him, he turned and raised Riptide just in time to intercept Phorcys' torch. Yes, the crab fought with a torch. It reminded Percy of the Olympic Torch used for the Olympic Games. It was long around 2 inches long, it's flame amber red.

Phorcys aimed the barrel of the torch at Percy, and shot a column of fire at him. It hit him right in the chest, blasting him around 3 feet back. The Sea Prince's chest armour melting from the heat, the edges of his pauldron catching on fire. The slightly dazed hero struggled to get his feet. Through dizzy confusion, he parried Phorcys blow. Percy shook his head, regaining vision and attentiveness. He saw Phorcys attempt to swing from the right, but Percy was faster. He used the tip of his sword and slashed at Phorcys wrist. The god roared and let go of his torch. Taking the opportunity, he kicked the god in the chest, summoned an orb of darkness and blasted him in the head.

Not finished, he ran to the god. He used his trident, and thrust it right into the chest. Phorcys fell on his back from the force. Percy called forth the darkness from the corners of the seabed and it surrounded the god, who looked at the shadows in confusion.

"What game are you playing, son of Poseidon? What is this?" The merman asked. Percy answered by raising his open palm towards Phorcys. More and more shadows surrounded the god and with a quick close of his hand, the darkness covered Phorcys. The darkness glowed silver, a scream followed. Percy put down his hand and the darkness vanished. Beheld was a unconscious god, with ichor flowing freely. There were many scratches and of course the cut and stab in the wrist and chest.

"I'll take it from here, little brother," Triton said, coming from behind him. He held celestial bronze chains, "You can help father, while I send him to the camp. I shall join you and father shortly after." With a nod, Triton chained the injured god and carrying it on to his chariot, the elder son of Poseidon dashed off.

Tiredly, Percy called for his own chariot, and went to face the Kraken with Paleamon and his dad. Nothing says family bonding activity like killing a giant squid, right?

* * *

 **Nike or Adidas - Piper**

 **Piper was having a great day.** She had to scout a ghost gathering, see her boyfriend almost die and then see said boyfriend be carried on a makeshift gurney (courtesy of Annabeth Chase) by Frank in eagle form.

Yup, just a regular day for Piper McLean.

She was in the mess hall, tending Jason's wound. The ambrosia did most of the job. The wound is closed, which is good. But it's a sickly radioactive purple, which is a huge contrast on Jason's pale skin. She passed him a canteen of water, hopefully enough for him to get some colour back.

The rest of the demigods were planning their next move.

Annabeth had relayed their findings on Ithaca; the monsters think they are sailing around the Peloponnese, and that Nike (not the shoe, the goddess) was on a rampage.

"No need to worry of Nike, my daughter," a voice said. They turned to see Athena, casually seated as if she was there the whole time. She looked normal, wearing a simple white blouse with blue jeans. Apollo, Hephaestus and Aphrodite standing behind her. Piper watched as her Mom fanned herself before taking a seat beside Athena. Lady Athena continued, "Nike was on a rampage, yes. After our Greek and Roman personas unified, so has hers."

"Of course! As goddess of Victory she would be torn between her Greek and Roman personas!"

"That's right, dear Annabeth. But fear no more! All she needs is a makeover and she'll be set," Aphrodite commented. Piper groaned out loud, "Mom..."

"My lords and ladies, is there a reason for this visit?" Hazel asked politely cutting in. Hephaestus started, "Well, I'm here to help with my boy on this fine ship. Help upgrade and improve it to combat the monsters on Delphi." Leo looked up from what he was tinkering with and smiled at his dad. The blacksmith god smiled back, tenderly.

"And Lord Apollo and Lady Ve-Aphrodite?"

"Here to help my half-Brother, of course! Whatever Hera had said on the mountain peak was rubbish. Yes it's true that Imperial Gold can sever at one's essence but we gods can help with the healing process. Just-like-this-" Apollo tapped his finger onto Jason's forehead. Instantly, the son of Zeus brightened up, color returning to his face. Piper immediately went to his side, and gave him a small does of nectar. He gingerly took it before straightening up.

"Thank you, Lord Apollo." Apollo just grinned.

Aphrodite snapped her fingers and Jason's torn and bloody clothes were changed to a fresh Camp Jupiter shirt with dark jeans. "There, better! Now, Athena and I are here for two reasons actually, first was to put your mind at ease about Nike, though if I were to choose, I would have gone for Adidas. Nike is so bland and overhyped! The second reason is for you to plan your siege on Delphi. Personally, I would recommend you guys to spray some Givenchy or maybe Channel on yourself, monsters hate the smell."

Hephaestus patted her on the arm, "Now, now dear. We could help them with their strategy in attacking, not just the perfume they can wear. Now demigods," he looked at everyone in the room, "Delphi is overtaken by almost a thousand monsters-"

"A THOUSAND!?" The demigods exclaimed.

"Yes, yes. But fortunately for you, after young Perseus finished up his work with the sea critters, you guys have to only deal about 700-800 monsters." He nodded his head, as if it was good bargain he's presenting.

"Yup, my homeboy Perce is wrecking the ocean floor and they are soon going to take over the Mediterranean Sea," Apollo pitched in.

"He's what?" Annabeth asked, obviously concerned for her boyfriend.

He pointed to the screen in the mess hall. The image changed from paradise island to underwater darkness but Piper guessed that if it's hundreds of miles down than of course it would be. As if hearing her thoughts, the screen adjusted it's lighting and beheld a battered son of Poseidon.

He didn't look good either, almost as bad as Jason. Blood trickled at the side of his head, a large gash was on his cheek. His armour damaged, his bloodied legs full of cuts and bruises.

He stood in front of a large squid. His trident aimed and fired at it. A large bright blue energy hit it in the right flank, blasting a chunk of the squid, and a tentacle, off

"Palaemon! The kraken's distracted, go forth!" They heard Percy yell. A large armoured shark nodded to him and passed him, a dozen sharks, ranging from Great White, Bulldog to Hammerhead, following it.

Percy boarded his chariot, a figure joining his side.

"My boy, what's the status?" The Sea King asks. "Triton and Delphin was able to destroy the Lernaen Hydra and subdue Keto and her children in the East. An unconscious Phorcys was sent to the camp by Triton to be properly imprisoned. Unfortunately, the Cetus left the East side and joined the kraken in the battle here. Good news is that there are only 200 monsters left from the original 800 and there are no casualties as of now."

Poseidon nodded, "Good, good. And your condition?"

"I'm fine," Percy said, though not looking at his father.

"Percy..." Poseidon gave his son a stern look

"Fine, I have 3 broken ribs, my left hamstring is torn and my right arm was burned after an eel had a go at it," Percy admitted.

His father sighed, "After this battle, you're going to stay in the infirmary, whether you like it or not." Percy didn't argue.

A high pitched shriek caught their attention. The father-son duo turned to see an enraged kraken. It swatting everything it saw, easily pushing a great white shark, into a rock formation.

The last thing the viewing demigods and gods saw was the Cetus lunging towards the duo, cutting the connection.

Apollo turned to the gawking demigods, "Give them a few hours, by the end of the day, the Mediterranean Sea will be cleared and evil-free. Now I think it's best for me to leave now, wouldn't want father to catch us in the act."

From where he stood, a bright light erupted. Smoke formed and he was gone. Aphrodite followed suit, "Ta ta children, kill some monsters okay?" They smelled a sweet perfume, and they disappeared.

"Well, it's time for my boy and I to fix this bad boy up," Hephaestus proclaimed. The blacksmith god and his son left for the engine room. The wisdom goddess spoke up, "And I would like to speak with my daughter, if you don't mind." Athena and Annabeth left for the latter's room, not waiting for anyone's response.

* * *

 **Hairy Surprises - Reyna**

 **She has been in many situations in her life, some that were life-threatening, others were weird.** She could add this to the collection of weird and awkward ones.

The voyage was mostly quiet conversations between Nico and Reyna, planning on where to travel first and the grace period they had when shadow-travelling between places. The two hours went by quick and quiet, no attacks thankfully. She woke up Coach Hedge, as she disembarked the raft.

The Athena Parthenos was rolled off the raft with a system of pulleys and belts that the merman had prepared. She thanked them, and in return they nodded. They swam off immediately. Nico was already attaching the harness to himself. They were at the deserted end of the beach it seems.

"Hold on," Nico spoke up, "If any one of one of us looses grip, that's game over." Reyna gripped his pale hand tightly while her other hand gripped the satyr's hand. Before she knew it, they had slipped into the shadows. Wind whistled in her ears before being replaced by cold chattering of voices. They spoke aimlessly in different tongues. Moment's later, the chattering voices was replaced by the rustling of leaves. The darkness was replaced by lush greenery.

They stood in a clearing, surrounded by tall trees. Nico stumbled, falling on his back. Darkness seeped out from his shoes, as if expelling any extra shadows. He breathed heavily trying to get some life back into him. he grass and trees within a 5 meter radius withered. The 40 foot statue under the shadows of the canopy, nestled in-between branches, it's glowing eyes like a stalking predator.

"Where are we?" Reyna asked the satyr.

"The Amazon Rainforest, Brazil probably," he shrugged.

"You are trespassing," A voice growled , "but it matters not, you made my job much easier."

Bright red eyes peered from the shadows of the forest, a pack of wolves emerging. The alpha was humanoid, lithe in body shape, and greasy in hair. His robes made from miscellaneous hides of animals.

Reyna took out a silver pocket knife and pointed it at the pack. They tensed and took a few steps back. Suspicions confirmed, "Lycaon, what are you doing here?"

"Lycaon?" The satyr squeaked, "as in the the werewolf, Lycaon?" The alpha looked unimpressed, "Yes, goat meat. I am Lycaon, King of the Wolves. Valid question daughter of Bellona, we used to roam the forests in Greece but times changed and so does the locations we roam. We're drawn to the Amazon Rainforest, it's basically our biggest playground. And after playing, we're hungry." His hungry scarlet eyes peered into Reyna's soul. In the corner of her eye, she saw Nico getting up, getting ready to travel but his ghostly skin said otherwise.

She gritted her teeth, and yelled, "Coach!"

"On it, cupcake!" His lips quickly muttered a string of bleats. Vines and roots rose, lashing out to the wolves. The wolves were wrapped tightly, hopefully subduing them. Lycaon was wrapped in the the thickest of blanket of leaves, his jaw wrapped in thorns.

Reyna and Coach Hedge ran to Nico's side. Nico looked at them helplessly, "I don't have enough power, I can't." Reyna looked at Nico, eyes determined. Accepting death as it comes is normal for a roman, but failing her duties and leaving the Athena Parthenos in the hands of Lycaon is _not_ acceptable.

"I'll give you strength," the torch-and-sword symbol of Bellona on her forearm grew painfully hot, as if being seared into her skin for the first time. Lycaon roared as he ripped the vines off, the thorns falling by his feet. He pounced at the trio, but before his claw could reach, they melted into the shadows.

* * *

AN; Hi, was late with this chapter, mostly because of Reyna's part, hard to think of a chapter in a queen's perspective. Hehe, sorry to give so much of Percy's perspective, the next few chapters will mostly be in either Reyna's, Nico's, or one of the seven. Apologises once again for being late.

 **Next Chapter; A Mother's Apology, and Who Let the Dogs Out?**


	8. A Mother's Apology and Reyna's Luck

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus.**

 **Chapter Summary; The Athena Parthenos, worth it or not? Why is Reyna so lucky?**

* * *

 **A Mother's Apology - Annabeth**

 **Annabeth gave her mother an incredulous look** , "I beg your pardon?"

The mighty Athena sighed, and repeated the previous statement louder, "I am saying that I am sorry. I am apologising to you, my daughter."

When Athena had pulled Annabeth away from the mess hall, they went straight to Annabeth's cabin. All is silent except the footsteps that echoed throughout the corridor.

They stood in the middle of her room. Her mother looked around her room, taking in the place that Annabeth had cozied herself in. There were countless of maps and blueprints, the books lawn strewn on the floor, and the blue hat that Athen had given to her all those many years hung on the wooden wall.

The Goddess of Wisdom smiled fondly.

The goddess's gray eyes, the same ones Annabeth had inherited, looked at her. Her gaze ever calculating, intimidating the teen. The seventeen-year-old felt like she was experiencing a MRI scanning. _So this is what people feel whenever I look at them_ , Annabeth thought.

Athena started, "How are you?"

The question was so simple yet so complexed. Her mother asked for them to talk privately just to ask _How are you?_

"Please do not think so much about the question, I am simply asking how you are, daughter." The smallest hint of mirth gleamed in her eyes as she spoke.

"I thought you disowned me at Grand Central Station, am I still acknowledged as the daughter of Athena?" Annabeth shot that sentence at her mother fast. The bottle of vexation that she had kept aside since that encounter burst open. She hadn't meant to be so harsh, but could you blame her. No sane child would like to be disowned by their parent.

Normally, when mortals and immortals talk in such tone to Athena, she would have felt great disrespect and would retaliate with a curse. Athena _does_ have one of the worse tempers among the Olympian Council, no doubt inheriting that form her father, Zeus. However, already foreseeing this, the wisdom goddess was prepared for an outburst.

"It was Minerva you spoke to you at the station," she corrected.

She sighed heavily, she continued, "However, regardless of which form I was, Athena or Minerva, I had no right to say such things to one of my children, and I regret the harshness that I gave you when you were looking for guidance in a dire time."

She gestured to her daughter's bed and reluctantly, the demigoddess sat beside her mother.

"I have had many children over the span of a thousand years. Ever since my statue was taken, I have given the task of retrieving my statue to my wisest child of that age," She sighed, "You must understand the importance of the statue, Annabeth. That statue is not only a figure of power and authority, but it is also my link to the mortal world. It is my anchor, as Percy is yours."

"Your link to the mortal world?"

"Yes, over the years, mortals and demigods alike have been praying to that statue, giving offerings and such. It has become my source of energy, and after accumulating over the years, it manifested into a spiritual anchor that ties me to the mortal world, preventing me from fading." Athena paused, letting her daughter digest.

"How can you even fade? As Goddess of Wisdom, lost people pray to you on a daily basis for guidance. As Goddess of Battle Strategy, soldiers pray to you for an upper hand in a battle. Countless of prayers—"

"From demigods." The war goddess finished. "The prayers and offerings I receive now are from demigods and legacies, and only them. The Athena Parthenos was my connection to the mortals, believers _and_ non-believers. Nowadays, mortals don't pray to me as much. You can imagine how much strength I had back in the days, when demigods, legacies and countless of mortals worshipped me."

"So your number of offerings and prayers has dwindled, due to the lack of mortal prayers and as a result, your powers have grown weaker. And since your statue, that had contained all those countless offerings was taken and covered by Arachne, it had blocked your spiritual anchor to the mortal world." Annabeth summarised, getting what her mother was saying. Athena nodded.

Understanding the situation her mother was in, the demigod's fury towards her mother shrunk. She still can't seem to let go of the harsh meeting at the station with Minerva, her hubris preventing her from doing so. Though her mother was hard and impassive, having her fade will cause Annabeth more emotional pain and to be frank, the teenager don't think she can handle any more emotional blunders.

"I hope you understand why I, both in the form of Minerva and as Athena, pushed so much for the Athena Parthenos. However," she paused for a minute, "The retrieval of my statue was not worth the pain of losing one of my brightest children, and my favoured daughter to Tartarus." She took a deep breath, "Hence, I apologise to you, Annabeth Chase, my daughter, that you had to experience such hell and torment. For you to experience such fate, not only in Tartarus but for the entirety of the journey as a demigod, and the two wars you faced and are facing right now, I know that I, Athena, have failed miserably at my duty as a mother. I am sorry."

Annabeth watched as a lone tear went down her mother's cheeks.

The usually impassive and proud goddess was admitting her wrongdoing and apologising to her demigod daughter. She didn't realise that her body moved, so when she hugged her mother and buried her head into the crook of Athena's neck, she surprised herself. As her mother's arms wrapped around her waist, Annabeth coudldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, her relationship with Athena, as mother and daughter, could be salvaged.

* * *

 **What Luck - Reyna**

"Hold up, cupcake. So you are telling me, that both Lycaon, the King of Werewolves, and Orion, a giant hunter, are after us because of this," Coach Hedge pointed to the Athena Parthenos.

They were resting at a cave at the coast of Venezuela, the Athena Parthenos standing proud as a lighthouse on the beach. Nico di Angelo had fainted immediately using the last of his energy, and a bit of Reyna's, to transport the trio away from the menace of the werewolves. It has since been a day and a half since then and the son of Hades hadn't budge.

His pale skin seemed translucent in the sun, Reyna had the slightest urge to put her cape on his slumbering form before reprimanding herself. _He's not your little brother._ Though Reyna puts her trust in Nico's hand, and had felt his feedback when she shared some strength, Reyna didn't feel that it's appropriate to treat him like family. With a sigh, she used a damp cloth and wiped sweat off his heated forehead. She had been doing this every now and then, repeating the routine since yesterday when they arrived.

The only new thing that came up since then, was the dream Reyna had the night before. Instead of how they usually start, in the Gardens of Bacchus, drinking a cup of hot chocolate, overlooking the city she came to love, she had experience nightmarish hell as Gaea invaded her dream and plagued it with what the primordial calls, "Reality".

Her beloved city burning, greeks and romans fighting and friends, new and old, dying is not a reality she would like to have. The only good thing that came from the nightmare, was the information that the giant Orion, is hunting them down.

 _What a blessing_ , Reyna thought to herself.

She has been thinking of what to do with Lycaon and his pack. Silver is the key to fighting with wolves, but beside Reyna's small pocket knife, she had no other form of silver weaponry. She had been pacing in the cave, thinking of ways to combat the wolves. She _did no_ t want to face them unprepared just as they were in the Amazon Forest.

Coach Hedge had helped their situation by casting some satyr magic on the entrance of the cave and on the statue, hindering the werewolves and hopefully the giant from finding them.

The afternoon sun was high in the sky. The satyr's voice pierced the silence, "How 'bout you take a walk, cupcake? I can hear you thinking hard and I think a gentle walk will calm you down. Maybe beat down some monsters you see as well. The violence will help."

She slowly nodded, registering Hedge's suggestion. She shot a grateful look at him, before silently walking out. Reyna thought to herself, _Lady Fortuna was really hate me_ , as darkness blinded her, not even 5 minutes after leaving the cave.

* * *

AN; Hi. Long time no update, I know. Sorry about that, had a bit of a writer's block. I'll _try_ to update faster, and more frequently. SO this chapter is mostly on Annabeth, 'cause you doesn't love some Annabeth Chase, right? Reyna's part is a bit short I must admit, but her part will be major later on. Once again, sorry if I made you wait too long. 'Till next time!

 **Next Chapter; La Rue and Grace / Campers and Hunters**


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